So then I started wondering what other bookbinding badges were out there, especially in other parts of the world.

My searching didn’t take me far, as I discovered that at the Cadette level of the U.S. Girl Scouts, you can earn a Book Artist badge. I immediately had to get one, so I drove to the Girl Scouts store in my area and picked one up. I also purchased a booklet that describes the requirements for earning the badge.

Let me start off by saying that yes, I meet the requirements for the badge. For some reason, that’s important to me.

Books are containers. They hold things: pictures, words, information. What will your book contain?

The purpose of the badge is described as follows: When I’ve earned this badge, I’ll know how to make different kinds of books. A Cadette has to complete 5 steps to earn the badge. Each of the steps has three activities from which the Cadette must complete one.

Here are the steps:

Explore the art of bookbinding

Get familiar with the insides of a book

Try out book artist techniques

Focus on function

Focus on style

The 8-page booklet has lots of cool information in it, including details about colophons, the parts of a book, and traditional bookbinding tools. In general, it’s a nifty educational resource. If you’re interested in getting your own copy, it’s included in the Cadette It’s Your Planet Badge Activity Set.

I managed to find bookbinding scout badges from two other countries – New Zealand and Ireland. I’ll write about those later this week.